Andy Burnham must be fairly pleased. Having ticked off a non-disastrous trip to see Donald Trump, the Prime Minister began Labour party conference this weekend with a lead in the polls. All momentum seems to be building towards an early snap election to secure his seat in No. 10 for another five years, even if that is a prospect he has poured cold water on. So what could possibly go wrong?

The “What-is-a-woman?” debacle has split the party bitterly

The “What-is-a-woman?” debacle has split the party bitterly

A building tension between internal Labour groups, bubbling over into full-blown protests at conference, could just be the fly in his ointment. Before the main conference has even begun, Labour is already embroiled in a public row over a decision to exclude men – including men dressed up as women – from Labour’s women’s conference.

In Burnham’s first ever speech as leader of the Labour party, he promised to diminish in-fighting and focus on a common purpose. Yet the “What-is-a-woman?” debacle has split the party bitterly. A handful of MPs are confirmed to be part of the pro-trans protest; meanwhile others, like Jonathan Hinder, clap back on X: “What kind of socialist protests against women organising collectively within their own political party?”.

This is hardly........

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